I think it is time for President Bush to replace the man who decided the army should wear black berets made in China!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RMNEWS_DAILY_EMAILS/message/14583

Wednesday April 4 2:22 PM ET
Will Chinese, Other Firms Make Berets for U.S. Army?

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Embroiled in a stand-off with Beijing over a U.S. spy plane, the Pentagon (news - web sites) abruptly canceled a news conference on Wednesday on whether firms in China and other nations will make thousands of black berets for the U.S. Army.

The briefing was scheduled to announce that the Defense Department had studied congressional demands that U.S. firms make the caps, but decided that the Defense Acquisition Agency did not violate rules in giving contracts for $27 million in beret business to companies from China and elsewhere.

The cancellation left unclear whether the contracts will go ahead even though a U.S. reconnaissance plane and its 24 crew members are still being held in China and members of Congress are calling for the Pentagon to ``buy American.''

``The (beret) study is still under way,'' Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters in announcing the cancellation less than 10 minutes before the scheduled briefing.

``But it's pretty clear why it was canceled,'' another Pentagon official told Reuters privately. ``This whole thing has nothing to do with the aircraft now in China. And nobody wants to confuse the two issues.''

War Of The Black Beret

The Army last month settled what had become known as the ``War of the Black Beret.''

After a top Pentagon civilian mediated a bitter five-month fight, the Army announced that its 3,000 elite Rangers would trade their exclusive black berets for a tan model -- and the rest of the 474,000 troops would soon begin wearing the black caps.

But the Defense Department announced at the time that it would review decisions to give contracts to firms in China and elsewhere to provide the berets. Those hasty deals were criticized by members of Congress who support ``buy American'' rules.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki conceded at a Pentagon press conference on March 16 that there had been opposition from Rangers to his order last October that all Army troops begin wearing black berets to boost morale.

That order was supposed to take effect this June 14, the Army's 226th birthday. But Shinseki and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters that the deadline could slip while the Defense Logistics Agency studied the beret contracts.